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Fargo
Fargo is a 1996 British-American crime film written, produced, edited & directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film first premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival; it was given a limited theatrical release on March 8, 1996 and was given a wide theatrical release a month later on April 5, 1996. In 2014, a television series based on the film began airing on the FX Network. Plot Set in the winter of 1987, Jerry Lundegaard, the sales manager at an Oldsmobile dealership in Minneapolis is desperate for money; he floated a $320,000 GMAC loan and collateralized it with nonexistent dealership vehicles and is unable to pay back the loan. On the advice of dealership mechanic and paroled ex-convict Shep Proudfoot, Jerry travels to Fargo, North Dakota and hires small-time cons Gaear Grimsrud & Carl Showalter to kidnap his wife, Jean and extort a ransom from his wealthy father-in-law and boss, Wade Gustafson, in return for a new car and half of the $80,000 ransom. Jerry pitches Gustafson a lucrative real estate deal and he agrees to front $750,000. Jerry considers calling off the kidnapping, but he learns that Gustafson plans to make the deal himself, giving Jerry a finder's fee. At Jerry's home, Carl and Gaear carry out the kidnapping. As they transport Jean to their remote cabin on Moose Lake, a state trooper pulls them over outside Brainerd for driving without temporary tags. When the trooper hears a sound from the back seat, Gaear kills him, then chases down two eyewitnesses and shoots them. The following morning, Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson discovers that the dead trooper was ticketing a car with dealership plates. Later, two men driving a dealership vehicle checked into the nearby Blue Ox Motel with two call girls, then placed a call to Proudfoot. After questioning the prostitutes, she drives to Gustafson's dealership, where Proudfoot feigns ignorance and Jerry insists no cars are missing. While in Minneapolis, Marge reconnects with an old classmate of hers named Mike Yanagita. Mike awkwardly and aggressively tries to romance Marge, before breaking down, saying his wife has died. Jerry informs Gustafson that the kidnappers have demanded $1 million, and will deal only through him. Meanwhile, Carl, in light of the complication of three murders, demands that Jerry hand over the entire $80,000. GMAC gives Jerry 24 hours to prove the existence of the vehicles or return the loan. Carl is beaten by a furious Proudfoot for bringing him under suspicion. He orders Jerry to deliver the ransom immediately. Gustafson insists on making the money drop himself. At the drop point in a Minneapolis parking garage, he tells Carl he will not hand over the money without seeing Jean. An enraged Carl shoots and kills Gustafson, but not before Gustafson shoots Carl in the face. After fleeing the scene, Carl is astounded to discover that the briefcase contains $1 million. He removes $80,000 to split with Gaear and then buries the rest alongside the highway. At the cabin, Gaear has killed Jean and Carl says they must split up & leave the state immediately. The two of them get into a heated argument over who will keep the dealership car with Carl using his injury as justification. In response, Gaear kills Carl with an axe. Marge discovers that Yanagita's dead wife is neither dead nor his wife. Reflecting on Yanagita's convincing lies, Marge returns to Gustafson's dealership. Jerry continues to insist that he is not missing any cars. Marge asks him to check the inventory, then spots him fleeing the dealership and she calls the State Police. The next morning, Marge drives to Moose Lake on a tip from a local bar owner who reported a "funny-looking guy" bragging about killing someone. Outside a cabin, Marge finds the dealership car; nearby, Gaear is putting Carl's dismembered body into a woodchipper. Marge shoots him in the leg as he tries to escape and arrests him. North Dakota police arrest Jerry at a motel outside Bismarck. Marge's husband Norm (whose mallard painting has been selected for a 3-cent postage stamp) complains that his friend's painting will be on the first class stamp. Marge reassures Norm that lots of people use 3-cent stamps and they happily anticipate the birth of their child in two months. Cast *Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson *William H. Macy as Jerry Lundegaard *Steve Buscemi as Carl Showalter *Peter Stormare as Gaear Grimsrud *Harve Presnell as Wade Gustafson *Kristin Rudrüd as Jean Lundegaard *Tony Denman as Scotty Lundegaard *Steve Reevis as Shep Proudfoot *Larry Brandenburg as Stan Grossman *John Carroll Lynch as Norm Gunderson *Steve Park as Mike Yanagita Production Casting The Coens initially considered William H. Macy for a smaller role, but they were so impressed by his reading that they asked him to come back in and read for the role of Jerry. According to Macy, he was very persistent in getting the role, saying: "I found out that they Coen brothers were auditioning in New York still, so I got my jolly, jolly Lutheran ass on an airplane and walked in and said, 'I want to read again because I'm scared you're going to screw this up and hire someone else.' I actually said that. You know, you can't play that card too often as an actor. Sometimes it just blows up in your face, but I said, 'Guys, this is my role. I want this.'" Locations The movie was filmed during the winter of 1995, mainly in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and around the actual town of Brainerd (which was the film's original title). Due to unusually low snowfall totals in central and southern Minnesota that winter, scenes requiring snow-covered landscapes had to be shot in northern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota (though not in Fargo itself). Jerry's initial meeting with Carl and Gaear was shot at a pool hall and bar called The King of Clubs in the northeast section of Minneapolis; it was later demolished, along with most other buildings on that block of Central Avenue, and replaced by low-income housing. Gustafson's auto dealership was actually Wally McCarthy Oldsmobile in Richfield, a southern suburb of Minneapolis; the site is now occupied by Best Buy's national corporate headquarters. The "Welcome to Brainerd" Paul Bunyan statue was built for the film in the northeast corner of North Dakota, near the Canadian border. (Though several present-day Paul Bunyan statues in Minnesota and North Dakota claim to be associated with Fargo, the one actually used in the movie was dismantled after filming was completed.) The Blue Ox motel/truckstop was Stockmen's Truck Stop in South St. Paul, which is still in business. Ember's (the restaurant where Carl discussed the ransom drop with Gustafson) was located in St. Louis Park, the Coens' hometown; the building now houses a medical outpatient treatment center. The Lakeside Club where Marge interviewed the hookers was a family restauran (now closed) in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. The kidnappers' Moose Lake hideout actually stood on the shore of Square Lake, near May, Minnesota. The cabin was relocated to Barnes, Wisconsin in 2002. The Edina police station where the interior police headquarters scenes were filmed is still in operation, but has been completely rebuilt. The Carlton Celebrity Room was an actual venue in Bloomington, Minnesota, and José Feliciano did once appear there, but it had been closed for almost ten years when filming began. The Feliciano scene was shot at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre in Chanhassen, near Minneapolis. The ransom drop was filmed in two adjacent parking garages on South 8th Street in downtown Minneapolis. The scenes in the Lundegaards' kitchen were shot in a private home on Pillsbury Avenue in Minneapolis and the house where Mr. Mohra described the "funny looking little guy" to police is in Hallock, in northwest Minnesota. The motel “outside of Bismarck” where the police finally catch up with Jerry, is the Hitching Post Motel in Forest Lake, north of Minneapolis. While none of the movie was actually filmed in Fargo, the Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau exhibits original script copies and several props used in the film, including the wood chipper. After the movie's release, by some accounts, Brainerd was invaded by shovel-toting moviegoers searching for the buried ransom cash, inspired by the dubious "based-on-a-true-story" announcement in the opening credits. Claims of factual basis The film opens with the following text: "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred." However, the closing credit bear the standard all persons fictitious disclaimer for a work of fiction. Regarding this apparent discrepancy, the Coen brothers claimed that they based their script on an actual criminal event, but they wrote a fictional story around it. According to Joel Coen: "We weren't interested in that kind of fidelity. The basic events are the same as in the real case, but the characterizations are fully imagined ... If an audience believes that something's based on a real event, it gives you permission to do things they might otherwise not accept." The brothers have modified their explanation more than once. In 1996, Joel Coen told a reporter that (contrary to the opening graphic), the actual murders were not committed in Minnesota. Many Minnesotans speculated that the story was inspired by T. Eugene Thompson, a St. Paul attorney who was convicted of hiring a man to murder his wife in 1963, near the Coens' hometown of St. Louis Park, but the Coens claimed that they had never heard of Thompson. After Thompson's death in 2015, Joel Coen changed the explanation again, saying, "story was completely made up. Or, as we like to say, the only thing true about it is that it's a story." The special edition DVD of "Fargo" contains yet another account that the film was inspired by the 1986 murder of Helle Crafts from Connecticut at the hands of her husband, Richard, who disposed of her body through a wood chipper. Accolades Wins *Academy Award for Best Actress – Frances McDormand *Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay – Joel and Ethan Coen *BAFTA David Lean Award for Direction – Joel Coen *Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director – Joel Coen *New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film *National Board of Review Award for Best Actress – Frances McDormand *National Board of Review Award for Best Director – Joel Coen *Satellite Award for Best Film *Satellite Award for Best Director – Joel Coen *Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama – Frances McDormand *Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading *Role – Frances McDormand *Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen – Joel and Ethan Coen *Independent Spirit Award for Best Film *Independent Spirit Award for Best Director – Joel Coen *Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead – William H. Macy *Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead – Frances McDormand *Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay – Joel and Ethan Coen *Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography - Roger Deakins *1998 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – #84 *2000 AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #93 *2003 AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains: Marge Gunderson – #33 Hero *2006 National Film Registry Nominations *Academy Award for Best Picture – Ethan Coen *Academy Award for Best Director – Joel Coen *Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor – William H. Macy *Academy Award for Best Cinematography – Roger Deakins *Academy Award for Best Film Editing – Roderick Jaynes *American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Releases - Roger Deakins *BAFTA Award for Best Film *BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay *BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role *Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy *Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Motion Picture – Joel Coen *Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy – Frances McDormand *Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture – Joel and Ethan Coen *Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics *Palme D'or *Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama – William H. Macy *Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay – Joel and Ethan Coen *Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role – William H. Macy Box Office During its limited opening weekend, "Fargo" grossed $730,265 and $2,536,491 in its wide opening weekend. Domestically, the film grossed $24,611,975. Reception On Rotten Tomatoes, "Fargo" holds a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. According to the website's critical consensus says, "Violent, quirky, and darkly funny, Fargo delivers an original crime story and a wonderful performance by McDormand." On Metacritic, the film scores 85 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 24 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim." Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert each named Fargo the best film of 1996; Ebert called it "one of the best films I've ever seen", adding that "films like Fargo are why I love the movies". He later ranked it fourth on his list of the best films of the 1990s. The film was ranked 84th on the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Movies" list in 1998 (although it was removed from the 2007 version) and 93rd on "AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs" list. The Marge Gunderson character was ranked 33rd on AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains. In 2010, the Independent Film & Television Alliance selected "Fargo" as one of its "30 Most Significant Independent Films" of the last 30 years. Category:1996 films Category:1990s crime drama films Category:1990s crime thriller films Category:1990s criminal comedy films Category:American black comedy films Category:American crime drama films Category:American crime thriller films Category:American criminal comedy films Category:American films Category:English-language films Category:Gramercy Pictures films Category:PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films Category:Working Title Films films Category:1990s films Category:Films